Myths and Misconceptions About Accessibility

Question 1

True of False? Accessibility benefits only a small minority of people?

Answer 1

False.

Accessibility benefits a wide variety of people

Question 2

True or False? Accessible web sites are easier for search?

Answer 2

True.

Accessible sites make indexing and cataloging easier, making search easier for everyone.

Question 3

What percentage of the population have a disability at any given time?

A < 5% 
B 10%
C 15 %
D 20% 
E 25+%

Answer 3

D 20%

Question 4

True or False Accessibility is a short-term project that can be addressed once and be done.

Answer 4

False.

Accessibility is an ongoing design requirement,

Question 5

How can accessibility be embedded in the process of designing products and services?

Answer 5

Business requirements
Design requirements
QA requirements and test cases
Training new employees
Ongoing training 
Software to detect accessibility issues

Question 6

True or False? Accessibility should be addressed at the start of a design?

Answer 6

True.

Designing for accessibility is easier than retrofitting accessibility.

Question 7

True or False: Accessibility is difficult and costly

Answer 7

False

Accessibility costs are reasonable compared to the alternative of retrofitting, legal costs, and work arounds.

Question 8

True or False: There is no such thing as aesthetically pleasurably accessibility.

Answer 8

False.

Accessible sites and services can be aesthetically pleasing or not, same as non accessible products.

Question 9

True or False: Most accessibility features are invisible

Answer 9

True.
Alt tex, labels, headings, table headers are all invisible to people without disabilities

While some things like color contrast and language are immediately evident, they don’t have to be distracting.